Race Against Time
by soopergirl35
Summary: Sherlock discovers the TARDIS and sneaks aboard. Together, he and the Doctor go back in time to Camelot and run into Merlin. The three of them have some issues with each other with magic vs. science, but eventually they all work together to rid themselves of a mysterious visitor who threatens all of, you know, time and space. Would be rated K , but is T because paranoia.
1. Chapter 1-First Meeting

**This is a better summary of the story I wrote. Basically, it's the same as the other one, only I forgot to mention that it takes place between the end of Series Four and the beginning of Series Five (and The End of Time) for Doctor Who, after the end of Series Two for Sherlock, and somewhere in the three years separating Series Four and Five for Merlin. I did not have space to mention that there are MAJOR SPOILERS for Sherlock in the first few paragraphs. Also, Merlin will show up later, but I only had things for two crossovers and mine is eventually a four-way crossover. Finally, this is set in Sherlock's universe, which is the same as Merlin's and is similar to ours except that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did not exist, because that would just screw a whole bunch of things up. **

**All that said, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer-The BBC got there first. And I could never come up with this amazing of an anything in a million billion years. Point being I own nothing.**

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He walked slowly, avoiding others who kept their heads down and plowed through the crowd. The ever-present wind ruffled his hair, blowing it into his eyes, but he ignored it. With his collar pulled up so nobody would recognize him, Sherlock Holmes surveyed the busy street.

In an alley, a blue box wavered into existence. A man stepped out of it and ran his hand through his hair, making it stand on end. He inhaled some of the cool London air and sighed. "Sure is good to be back," he said quietly, to himself. Nobody heard him. The Doctor was alone.

John smiled as he picked up the cigarette package he had found. He reminisced for a moment about how no matter how well he hid them, Sherlock always seemed to be able to find them. John was used to Sherlock's constant boredom and odd, sudden bursts of insight and deductions, but remembering these things still hurt. It had only been a fortnight since Sherlock's death.

John glanced out the window. He saw a tall man, not unlike Sherlock in appearance, and smiled wistfully again. The man turned, and John thought he saw Sherlock staring through the windows of 221 Baker Street. John shook his head, disbelieving, and in that instant of uncertainty, Sherlock had disappeared, melted into the mass of people filling the sidewalks.

John turned away from the window and sighed. It seemed as though he'd been seeing Sherlock everywhere lately. _Which is impossible,_ John reminded himself. _Sherlock is dead._

The Doctor wandered out of the alley, hands in his pockets, head down. He was curious to see if anybody would recognize him. He doubted it, though. It's not as though he was on the news very often…well…not recently, anyway. At least he didn't think it was recently.

He grabbed a newspaper off of a stand and scanned it for the date. "London, 2012," he said quietly. "Last time I was here…it was the Olympics, wasn't it?" The Doctor replaced the newspaper and continued on his way.

Sherlock accidentally bumped into a man wearing a strange combination of a suit and a long coat. They both mumbled apologies and walked off in opposite directions. Soon, Sherlock reached the newspaper stand. He didn't look at it twice. He already knew everything that would be reported, and a great many things that would not be. He had almost passed the alley when something caught his attention.

Was that…a police call box? Sherlock instantly had about…ten ideas…about how it got there when he walked over to get a closer look. Okay, seven ideas. He could tell, just by looking at the door, that it was still in use, and by noting the small keyhole that the box was locked. Five ideas remained. The phone itself was a dummy, as proven when Sherlock saw that the number keys had hardly been used. Eventually Sherlock took a step back from observing and concluded that he only had two ideas.

Either it was a very good museum replica, which was unlikely, because what museum would make an antique telephone box and then just leave it in an alley? The only other possibility was that someone had brought it here, salvaged from an online shopper. Sherlock reached to check his phone. There were several boxes like it up for sale on various sites.

Having reached the dull conclusion, Sherlock turned to leave. Leaning against the wall was the man in the odd outfit, the one who had bumped into Sherlock earlier.

"Have you figured it out, then?" the stranger asked.

Sherlock answered simply, "I have deduced that this is a ridiculous replica of a police call box, probably left out here by someone in one of the flats around us. The flats are far to small to contain such a thing."

"Oh, you called her ridiculous! And here I thought you'd got it!" the other man exclaimed. He went over to the box and patted it. "Although I suppose nobody has ever guessed what it was."

Before the strange man could finish, Sherlock said, "I don't guess. I observe everything and then use what I observed to deduce."

The stranger laughed. "Well you can't observe everything if you've never seen the inside! Come on, I'll show you. Then we'll see if you can get it." With an absurd grin plastered on his face, the man pulled a key out of his pocket with a flourish, unlocked the door, and leapt inside. Sherlock watched the entire proceedings apathetically, as he watched nearly everything.

The man opened the door again. It had swung shut once he was inside. "Come on, then! Don't you want to see?"

Sherlock rolled his eyes very slightly, but he although he wasn't interested in this strange man and his box, he was bored. He couldn't solve cases, what with being dead and all.

He stepped inside.

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**I'm a little concerned about how this will go. I wrote the outline with one of my (cough, crazed fangirl, cough) friends, and it really is just a crack fic. I honestly have no excuse for this but that the rigours of marching band are finally taking their toll on my brain and I spend far too much time watching British tv. I have not decided how long this will be, but regardless it will most definitely just be pure. Crack.**

**Also, as Sundapple helpfully pointed out, the Doctor has an ulterior motive behind asking Sherlock into the TARDIS. Remember, Rule Number One - The Doctor lies. Which I think means that the Doctor also can act pretty well. Wibbly wobbly timey wimey reasoning never gets old, and everything will be revealed in a later chapter, quite possibly the last (bwahaha).**

**Anyway, enjoy and let me know what you think! Also, please check out the poll on my profile and vote if you ever want to see any more of my stories. Thanks for the support! Every review makes my day.**


	2. Chapter 2-Off On An Adventure

"Oh." Sherlock was surprised by the interior. And he was rarely surprised by anything. He didn't really show it though, just lifted his eyebrows a bit.

The Doctor smiled. He loved showing people the TARDIS. ""Brilliant, isn't it?"

Sherlock walked in further, expecting it to be some sort of cleverly painted, three-dimensional trick. But as he got closer to the center, the dazzling display of little things you wouldn't expect (among them little knobs and wheels and several television screens), the box remained the same. He reached a large, translucent column in the middle before turning back to the man.

"It's bigger on the inside," Sherlock said.

"Yes it is, isn't it," the Doctor replied. "Oh, I haven't introduced myself!" He spun around the giant thing in the middle and held out his hand. "I'm the Doctor, nice to meet you."

Sherlock just stared at him for a moment before shaking hands. "Sherlock Holmes." He looked around. "What is this place?"

The Doctor patted the enormous console in the center. "This is the TARDIS. Time and relative dimension in space."

"So it's a space ship? Or is it a time machine?" Sherlock asked. Before the Doctor could respond, he added, "Or both…"

The Doctor nodded. "Great deducing! Well, then, off you get!"

Sherlock was pushed down the ramp and out the door of the TARDIS. He spun around, confused, as the door slammed shut behind him. Now curious about the eccentric man and his time machine/spaceship, Sherlock caught the door with his foot, preventing it from shutting all the way. He eased the creaky door open and stepped back into the blue box, shutting the door quietly and remaining silently behind the door.

The Doctor was in his element. He ran around the central panel, pushing buttons, throwing levers, and spinning wheels, until the large clear column began to glow and something inside of it began to move up and down. The TARDIS made an odd noise, like an engine of some sort, and it sort of shook. Sherlock regained his balance quickly, and the Doctor seemed to be having fun.

After a minute or two of the noise and the shaking, everything stopped. Sherlock regained his balance and looked around. "I do believe we just traveled in time," he said aloud. The Doctor looked around to find the source of the voice and was very dismayed when he discovered Sherlock.

"How did you get here?" the Doctor asked. Sherlock just gave him a mysterious half-smile. The Doctor said, "No, really, how did you get here? I shut the door in your face, and I would have seen you if you'd just been standing there the whole time." Sherlock remained silent, and after a moment, the Doctor said, "Oh, very clever! You made it sound like the door had shut, and I probably just kept my back to you the whole time."

Sherlock nodded. "Well done. I knew you'd get there," he said, sounding quite like the Doctor.

The Doctor walked down the ramp. "I do wonder, though…the TARDIS isn't supposed to let people in unless I invited them."

"But you did invite me, remember? You said, 'Come on then! Don't you want to see?'" Sherlock said, reciting the words from memory as easily as if he was reading them out of a book.

"How do you remember that?" the Doctor mused. "Oh, I know you're hyper-aware, but photographic memory too?" He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "You're beginning to seem like me. Everybody must love you."'

Sherlock smirked, despite feeling slightly like he was being analysed or sized up like a horse. "Oh, they do." He looked around. "So…where are we?"

The Doctor smiled again. He really did like taking people places, even if they were strange men who were not really supposed to be there. "The question is really when are we. I'm investigating a little dragon problem in Britain. When it was clear, after a minute or so, that I was not going to get anywhere with the authorities of 2012, I decided to go straight to the source." He glanced over at one of the screens. "If I'm correct, and it's a rare thing that I'm not, then we are in the twelfth century."

Since the Doctor had mentioned that he was investigating a dragon problem in Britain, Sherlock deduced that they were still in Britain. Although in the twelfth century it was…"Camelot? We're really in Camelot?"

The Doctor nodded. "Indeed we are, my acquaintance!" When Sherlock gave him a questioning look, he said, "Well, I didn't think you'd want me to call you 'friend.' Considering everything, you don't seem to make friends easily."

"No," Sherlock murmured very quietly. He wasn't upset, though. Merely responding to a fact.

The Doctor nodded, finding the sudden silence slightly awkward. "Well! Shall we go see Camelot?"

It was one of the few times Sherlock was actually interested in something other than a case. Although, truth be told, he was thinking about all of the interesting cases Camelot might have. All sorts of murders and death penalties. Maybe he could even help the court, even though he did not want to be threatened with a knighthood. Again. And working with royalty didn't faze him in the slightest.

Sherlock didn't bother replying to the Doctor. He stepped out of the TARDIS and into the busy street of Camelot, with the Doctor in tow. Which was odd, for the Doctor. He was rather used to leading.

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**Sorry I keep ending the chapters all mysteriously like this! I just think like that, and I also haven't had time to write lately...I will try to post a new chapter every week-ish, probably less often than that though, sorry. :( Next week I have finals, so probably no update, but then I'm on break, so possibly two updates. Yeah, yeah, I'm rambling and I don't think anybody cares. But still. I keep apologising. My point was that I don't mean to keep ending the chapters like this. So. Enjoy and review!**

**And yes. Merlin is coming. Welcome to Camelot!**


	3. Chapter 3-Welcome to Camelot

Merlin's eyes shone gold as he searched magically for the source of the huge, looming tracks. They were almost like Kilgharrah's, but something was different. Maybe it was the toes…? Arthur cuffed him on the back of the head, making him lose his concentration. "Ow! What was that for?" Merlin exclaimed indignantly.

"Shh!" Arthur hissed. "We are _hunting_. Not going on a merry little herb-gathering trip for Gaius. Keep it down and stop staring at the ground so much! The animals are _up here._" Arthur gestured to the trees around them. Merlin rolled his eyes, carefully so the king wouldn't see, and looked around.

Maybe only Merlin could see the tracks.

No sooner did the idea occur to him than Arthur took off in pursuit of some poor helpless forest creature. Probably a deer. Merlin waited a beat, until the crashing sounds of Arthur running full tilt in his heavy armor through the underbrush had quieted. Then he followed. Merlin wanted to give Arthur time to kill the thing, so that he didn't have to watch. It was disgusting.

Five minutes or so after Arthur ran off, Merlin arrived with all of Arthur's hunting gear. "Where have you been?" Arthur asked. "I could have used one of those knives to slay the beast! Instead it got away!"

"Perhaps you should carry your things yourself, Sire," Merlin replied in his characteristically cheeky way.

Arthur smacked Merlin's shoulder, then announced, "Well, that was an entire day of tracking and hunting wasted. We should return to the castle."

Merlin simply nodded. He knew better than to argue. The two of them headed back to the heart of Camelot.

Sherlock strode down the street. It wasn't too different population-wise to modern Britain, but Sherlock was rather out of place. He could tell whose profession was whose, but the range was different. Instead of computer programmers and secretaries there were farmers and…more farmers. Peasants, servants, and of course the farmers and shepherds, milled about in the courtyard, and the more Sherlock walked the more he understood about the culture and professions of those people. Although, when he looked at them, the traits he had associated with things like long, unkempt beards no longer applied, since things like razors did not exactly exist yet, and if they did only the rich could afford them.

The Doctor trailed some distance behind Sherlock, curious about him. He had just been kidding around, showing someone the inside of the TARDIS. It had honestly not occurred to him that they might take an interest. Any of his friends would have known what it was, and any normal human would have been terrified. But clearly, Sherlock was not normal. The Doctor decided that he had allowed Sherlock on the TARDIS because something about his nature reminded the Doctor of…himself.

If anyone were a Timelord in disguise, then Sherlock definitely would be. The way he was going around, observing quietly and unobtrusively, absorbing all the new information about the new environment. It was unnoticeable to anyone who had never done the same thing, which was pretty much everyone but the Doctor and Sherlock.

Merlin and Arthur had just arrived back at the city gates when they heard a commotion.

"Oh," Arthur sighed. "It's Market Day." Market Day was when all the villagers and farmers tried to sell these little homemade trinkets and trifles and food to each other. Arthur detested having to walk through the crowds and have everyone asking him questions about his policies and laws.

Merlin, being a commoner, understood Market Day a bit better than Arthur, and suggested that they look for something to buy Gwen. Arthur brightened up a bit at that, so off they went, the king and his servant, in search of something for the lovely Queen Guinevere.

Arthur had stopped at a stand selling various scarves when Merlin spotted an oddly dressed man walking through the crowd. He looked very wealthy, but Merlin had been servant to the royal family for long enough that he knew most of the dignitaries in the five kingdoms, and that man was not one of them. Merlin slipped away from Arthur's side, just to see where the odd man was going. From the way he was dressed, all dark clothing and collar pulled up, Merlin thought he looked rather suspicious.

As Merlin weaved his way through the crowd, he nearly ran into another oddly dressed man who was following the first. "Sorry," Merlin mumbled. The other man just kept going. Now Merlin had two people to follow.

"Merlin?" Arthur called out. Merlin hadn't gotten far from the scarf stand, and Arthur was coming towards him, waving a blue one. Merlin tried to smile, but it came out as more of an annoyed grimace, so he gave up and looked around. Both men that Merlin had been following were gone. Disappeared into the crowd like leaves in the wind.

Arthur caught up and slammed a palm on Merlin's shoulder, jostling him. "What were you doing? And I bought this for Guinevere. Now let's _go._"

Merlin looked down at the scarf Arthur had. "It's lovely," he said without much feeling. Arthur patted him on the back, hard, then swept off to the castle. Merlin stared after him. He had a strange sensation, like something was there that shouldn't be. He shook it off and ran after Arthur, who was already out of sight.

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**This is sort of just filler, but I had to figure out a reason for the characters to meet. Also, I cannot write any more today, but I was almost done, so I basically wrapped it up and uploaded a day early. More updates on the way, ASAP! I hate leaving things unfinished as much as I'm sure you hate me not finishing them. Anyway. More soon, I promise!**


	4. Chapter 4-An Unexpected Encounter

**The chapter's a bit longer this time. Amazing what putting off a huge project will do to stimulate your writing creativity.**

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Eventually, the Doctor caught up with Sherlock. In a low voice, he said, "I think we should head back to the TARDIS. People are starting to give us strange looks."

Sherlock turned around, the better to confront the Doctor. "If you thought people would be alarmed, why did you not stop me before I left?"

The Doctor was slightly exasperated with this version of himself. Now he understood why some people hated him so much. "I had just analyzed you like you were machinery! I didn't want to make it worse!"

Although Sherlock conceded that that statement was true, he didn't understand why being analyzed would put someone out. Sherlock himself didn't mind. It made him feel different, sure, but he already knew that. Sherlock didn't respond, merely looked over the Doctor's head and around the bustling courtyard. People were starting to clear out, since the sun was just beginning to set. Sherlock glanced around and noted that someone was watching them, although he was trying to be sneaky about it. Sherlock smirked and leaned over to the Doctor's ear.

"I believe we've got an eavesdropper," Sherlock whispered. The Doctor turned around and discreetly looked for the person listening in. His gaze landed on a lanky servant with rather large ears.

The Doctor whipped back around and said, "Yeah, he's definitely watching us. We should probably go talk to him and convince him that-"

Sherlock interrupted. "No, just look at him. A servant, judging by what he's carrying, wearing, and how he shadows the steps of that man." Sherlock shifted slightly and gestured at a blond knight wearing armor and, oddly enough, a blue ladies' scarf. The Doctor opened his mouth, but Sherlock took no heed and carried on. "The fact that he hasn't told his charge yet about us, the strangely dressed people who are having a suspicious conversation, shows that either he hasn't heard us or that there is something about him that means he wouldn't find time-travel strange. It is more likely the second one, since he keeps looking at me like he knows I'm talking about him, which would only be possible if he's listening." At this, Sherlock waved at the servant, who dropped a crossbow on the flagstones with a loud crash and pretended not to be paying attention.

The Doctor had listened to all of this with an expression of admiring and some confusion. "You got all that just from how he looked?" he asked somewhat incredulously.

Sherlock sort of shrugged. More aptly he twitched his shoulders in a way that would resemble a shrug if not for the vaguely smug expression he wore. "I observed. And it would have been impressive if not for the fact that you figured out the last bit just before I said it." If he hadn't been Sherlock Holmes, one might assume he was hurt. The Doctor grinned.

"Oh, I like you. You're like me!" the Doctor exclaimed. They both turned their attention back to the servant.

Merlin had been watching the two men in the courtyard having a somewhat discussion. He decided to listen in by enhancing his hearing magically. "Heorcnung bótian." He felt the usual surge of power, the heat in his eyes as they glowed, and a strange tingling sensation in his ears. The tingling grew, as did the volume of the sounds around him, and Merlin kept glancing over at the two people, wondering when he was going to be able to hear them.

It took maybe a minute, if that, before Merlin was able to make out what was being said amongst the thousands of other things that were suddenly extremely loud. "-people would be alarmed, why did you not stop me before I left?"

Arthur dropped a few coins on a jewelry merchant's palm, and they made an agonizingly loud noise. Merlin lost the thread of the conversation for a moment, but once the coins were away in a pouch (another set of painful noises) he picked up on the conversation again. "-got an eavesdropper." The taller man was staring straight at Merlin. Merlin instantly pretended to be interested in the bracelet Arthur was showing him.

Arthur moved on to another stall, his footsteps making Merlin's ears ache, and Merlin could only catch a few words here and there. They faded in and out, and Merlin realized that it was easier to pay attention to their voices when he was looking at them. "-probably go - convince him – look at him – shadows the steps of - " Merlin didn't need to look at them to know that the one in the black was talking about him. Merlin's stomach sank, but he had to be sure…He focused in on them again. "-strangely dressed people who are having a suspicious conversation, shows that either he hasn't heard us or that there is something about him that means he wouldn't find time-travel strange. It is more likely the second one, since he keeps looking at me like he knows I'm talking about him, which would only be possible if he's listening."

Merlin let his spell fade and watched in horror as the man who was speaking waved to Merlin, who was openly staring now. He dropped the crossbow slung across his shoulder and scrambled to collect both the loose bolts and his thoughts. _Time travel? TIME TRAVEL?! _Arthur smacked Merlin in the back of the head, but Merlin barely noticed. He was still trying to comprehend the idea of _time travel._

While Arthur was busy trying to decide whether or not to buy yet another little thing for Gwen, Merlin snuck off into the crowd, then doubled back in an effort to reach the courtyard again so he could talk to the two mysterious strangers. However, Merlin's sense of direction had never been the best, and he soon found himself hopelessly lost in the maze of merchants and stalls. It was also too crowded to risk using magic to get back.

He seemed to be in the more desperate section, too. Toothless old women waved shapeless knitted things under his nose, croaking things like, "A handsome young man must have a pretty girl! Buy her something to keep her warm!" Merlin did his best to shake off the worst of them, and the sky grew ever darker. Arthur would be back in his room, preparing a speech, but he would want supper as well…Merlin sighed. He could never get away from his duty.

As he wandered, still in sight of the castle but with no idea how to navigate through the streets to get there, Merlin found himself next to a large blue box. He read the letters on the side. "Police… public call box," the confused warlock said aloud. Police? What was that? And although Merlin had heard of a great many kinds of magical boxes, he had never heard of a public call box. He stared at the box until it was too dark to see the letters anymore. He knew he had to somehow find his way back to the castle. But how?

By the light of the many candle-filled windows, Merlin made sure he was always facing the castle. Also, everyone had gone home, so he could use magic if he wanted. So naturally, he did.

"Ábeþecian begang." His eyes glowed and he immediately saw what path to take. He jogged down the darkened streets, hoping he would get back soon and that Arthur wouldn't be missing his absence. He could practically hear the spoiled prince calling his name.

The Doctor and released a breath he had been holding since the servant who was okay with time travel had discovered the TARDIS. Sherlock looked up from where he was thinking on the bench. "Has he finally gone?" The Doctor nodded. Sherlock said, "Finally. And why didn't we go talk to him?"

The Doctor said, "I've told you about six times. Well, maybe four times. Okay, twice." Sherlock just looked on. "Look, the point is, I already told you, and I don't want to explain myself again." The Doctor turned back to the screen, which showed Merlin running towards the castle. Sherlock glared a moment longer, then let his head loll back.

"I was thinking. I don't hear anybody but myself when I'm thinking," Sherlock explained. The Doctor figured that this was about as close as he was going to get to an apology.

"We can't talk to him now because he is trying to find his way back. We couldn't have left him with his mind so full when he is running back to his master, who could hang us or set us on fire for witchcraft. Police boxes didn't exactly exist in Camelot."

"Is that all?" Sherlock mused. The Doctor rolled his eyes. He was getting very fed up with the detective. Oh, sorry, consulting detective. He refused to be lumped in with the rest of the incompetents. But that was Sherlock.

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**Yeah, I'm stuck in this horrible place called *cues ominous music* FINALS WEEK! (dun dun dunnnnn...)However, despite the fact that I am extremely stressed about all of them (even though I say I'm not) I also have no homework. So this chapter's update was a little sooner than I expected. It helped that I knew exactly what was going to happen, now that we've actually reached the part where my outline begins (the first bit of the outline just said "Wholock goes to Camelot and meets Merlin" and expanded from there) and I've been making this up as I go. Which is really all that writing is, in the end, isn't it?**

**Also, the first spell that Merlin says, literally translated, means "Hearing better." The second one was, "Find the way." I used this great website, and I would definitely recommend it if you ever need to translate something into/from old english. I said the spells a few times out loud to my dog, who deemed them spellish enough to be used by Merlin, and it also made me want to encourage spell-reading to all of the readers, since it is very fun. **

**Anywho...oh, a huge thank you to superster for being my first follower! No I don't care how dorky it is to thank your followers, I appreciate the support and that is the reason I keep writing! And sorry about the super long author's note. I had a lot of thoughts today. **


	5. Chapter 5-You Could Be Brothers

**I am so very very sorry that I took so long to update, what with the holidays and all, and I have had very little time but, as you can see, a lot of excuses. Chapter 5s are my writing kryptonite. It took me like a month (well, okay...two weeks) to finally finish this one, and in my original story it took me almost a year. I have like the rest of the story written out, I just hadn't finished Chapter 5 until like yesterday. But you didn't click on this to hear me prattle. My apologies.**

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"MERLIN!" Arthur shouted.

"Coming, sire," Merlin quickly responded. It was a trick to get through the door, seeing as Merlin was balancing a tray for the king's breakfast on one arm and a large pitcher on the other, and all the while Arthur was shouting at him to hurry up. Merlin finally made it to the table, placed the breakfast tray down, and asked Arthur if there was anything that needed doing.

"Let me guess," said Merlin, before the king could even say anything. "I need to polish your armor, clean your boots, do your laundry, and probably muck out the stables."

Arthur looked slightly taken aback, although it was not the first time his manservant had had the nerve to predict his chores like that. "Today, I need my armor, so you can scratch that one off. Everything else is perfectly correct, although my sword needs sharpening as well."

Merlin nodded. "Yes, my lord." Arthur nodded at Merlin to send him off, and Merlin exited the room without saying anything else. Arthur wondered what had gotten into him.

"You know, it's very unusual that I spend longer than a day or two somewhere. You're messing everything up!" the Doctor remarked. Sherlock shrugged as he put on his coat. The Doctor had been unable to convince Sherlock that he would stand out too much in his modern-day garb. Sherlock had said that if the Doctor was going to walk around in a suit then there was no reason why he couldn't do the same.

The Doctor couldn't seem to shake his unwanted visitor, so he told Sherlock, "I'm going to go investigate the dragon. You go do whatever it is you do."

"All right then. I'm coming with you," Sherlock said. "It'll be good to work on a case again."

The Doctor felt mildly put out. "It's not a case, it's a problem! The people of this era believe in magic and dragons, when it's really unexplained science and aliens. I have to get the dragons out. They are causing ripples in time."

Sherlock actually waited for the Doctor to finish before saying, "Cases are problems, they're just problems for somebody else. This is clearly a problem to you, therefore it is a case to me. I'm helping you."

The Doctor was not surprised. "Okay then. Let's go."

"There. Done," Merlin said happily. He had just finished with all of his chores (or at least the ones that Arthur would notice, the other ones could be done later). Merlin wanted to investigate the strangers and the blue box some more. Maybe the two things were connected…there was also the matter of those strange, dragon-like footprints that he had almost forgotten about. Merlin decided that he needed to prioritize better.

He chose to look for the box first. He used a tracking spell to find the box again. As Merlin went to the box, someone nearly bumped into him, heading towards the forest. Merlin stopped dead. It was one of the strange men from the previous day. Before he was out of Merlin's sight, the other man appeared, following the first. Merlin hung back a moment, but followed them as soon as he could.

The Doctor was following his sonic screwdriver. Sherlock trailed him, interested in the futuristic technology. Only the Doctor seemed to know what the noises coming from it meant, and the tip glowed blue. As soon as the Doctor stopped, looking for a signal, Sherlock asked what the device was. The Doctor didn't even look at him, but continued his searching. "It's a sonic screwdriver. It's like a regular screwdriver, only it's…sonic," he said.

"Well, that's not very helpful," Sherlock remarked. "I don't believe that sonic technology exists yet."

The Doctor spun, trying to follow the trail of whatever they were following. "Of course not, we're in Camelot," he said distractedly. "Oh, you mean in your time? 2012, wasn't it?" Sherlock nodded. "Yeah, you've got about…hmm…very long time 'til sonic stuff is used." He grinned at Sherlock, then went back to investigating.

Sherlock rolled his eyes. How long would he have to deal with this? Of course, it was no worse than Lestrade's attempts to be funny, but Sherlock wasn't always sure that the Doctor was joking around.

The Doctor heard something from behind Sherlock. They both turned, glared at each other to be quiet, and ducked down. The lanky serving boy who had been spying on them the day before had stumbled into their clearing. The Doctor popped up, hauling Sherlock up with him.

"Hello!" the Doctor said.

Merlin jumped. He was hoping to have had the element of surprise, but, he reflected, when had that ever really worked out for him? Merlin looked over at his welcoming committee. "Um…hello," he said.

The Doctor stuck out his hand for Merlin to shake. "I'm the Doctor." Merlin looked at the Doctor's hand. He was confused. What was he supposed to do? Handshaking wasn't exactly a custom in Camelot.

When Sherlock made no move to introduce himself, the Doctor said, "This is Sherlock Holmes." Merlin just looked at the pair of them and didn't say anything. The Doctor asked, "Do you have a name?"

Merlin shook himself out of his confusion. "I'm…Emrys," he lied.

Sherlock finally said something. "He's lying."

The Doctor didn't have to ask how Sherlock knew that. He said, "Emrys…that's not your real name. Will you tell us what your real name is? We've only met, I can understand why you might be apprehensive, but we're here to help with this." The Doctor gestured to the ground. They were standing next to one of the enormous draconic footprints.

Merlin's eyes widened, but he still felt defensive. "Some people call me Emrys. But I was trying to find out more about the footprints too!" Since seeing the Doctor's sonic screwdriver, Merlin was almost convinced that one, if not both of them, had magic, but Merlin wasn't so quick to divulge his secret. To make sure he could trust these people with his magic, Merlin said, "My name's Merlin. What was that thing-"

Before Merlin could describe the sonic screwdriver, Sherlock raised an eyebrow at him and the Doctor said, "Oh, this is brilliant! A young Merlin!"

Merlin was even more confused. "What do you mean, _young _Merlin? I'm exactly as old as I should be…"

The Doctor waved his hand dismissively. "I can't tell you, spoilers. But you look very different from how I imagined you."

Poor Merlin was barely following the conversation anymore. "You imagined me…how could you have known me? We've only just met…and what are spoilers?" Then Merlin remembered the weirdest bit of the conversation he had overheard. "Oh…time travelers. Got it." Merlin thought a minute. "No, I haven't got it. I'll try and figure some of that out."

By this time, Sherlock, the Doctor, and Merlin were all standing together on the trail. Looking back and forth between the others, the Doctor said, "You two could be brothers."

Sherlock and Merlin looked at each other quickly at the same time, then Merlin became very interested with the state of the forest floor. He looked back at Sherlock, who was surveying him with a bored sort of disinterest, and they both said, "Nah," and looked away.

The Doctor just stood there and laughed. "Just look at yourselves!" When Merlin and Sherlock showed no intention of doing that, the Doctor just shook his head at the pair of them. "Well, Merlin, as long as you're here, interested, and you're not too much of a drag, you might as well be of some use. Come on!" The Doctor started off, then turned around to face Merlin again. "Oh, and by the way, it's not a dragon we're looking for. It's an alien."

Merlin was completely nonplussed. "An alien..." he whispered to himself.

So they went into the forest. Merlin finally said, "You know, I can help you find whatever we're looking for faster."

The Doctor and Sherlock looked at him. "How?" the Doctor asked. Sherlock seemed to just be observing and deducing silently, which was best if they all wanted to keep their sanity.

Merlin said a quick spell, his eyes glowed gold, and he saw the path they needed to take. The Doctor and Sherlock were staring at him. "Well you said you knew who I was, and if you knew who I was in the future then you must have know that I have magic," Merlin said matter-of-factly.

"Right," the Doctor said. "Well, let's go then! I assume you know the way now?" Merlin nodded. "Brilliant! Allons-y!"

Merlin was still confused, but he didn't let on. No point in an explanation full of words he didn't understand.

* * *

**So they meet at last! I have been anticipating this chapter for ages, I just didn't know how to quite make it happen...but FINALLY! Anyway, please review, I get lots of views but practically no _re_views, and I just want to be able to make my story better. Thanks!**


	6. Chapter 6-Running Is Always A Good Plan

Merlin led the Doctor and Sherlock through the trees. Their meeting still didn't make much sense to him, and as they walked he started asking questions. "Who are you?" Seemed like an innocent question, certainly the most obvious. Merlin never could have predicted the response, though.

Sherlock looked Merlin up and down, and said, "What does it matter who we are? You already know our names. I already know who you are, I can tell from your attire that you are a servant of relatively low income, given the quality of the fabric, but you have someone to provide for you as well, considering how well-fed you are, much better than most of your fellow commoners. However, you-"

The Doctor jumped in. "I think he meant more to ask something more like where we're from. It's a bit complicated, where I'm from, but Sherlock here is from the future." The Doctor glanced at Sherlock, then turned back to Merlin. "Well, carry on!" an gestured ahead.

Sherlock was just standing there, nonplussed. Nobody ever interrupted his deductions unless they were confused about what he was saying. This was a new aspect of behaviour Sherlock had never had to deal with before. So was being confused. Everything always had a reason. Sherlock began trying to figure out why the Doctor had interrupted him.

Meanwhile, Merlin was trying to shake off his own confusion. It wasn't exactly working out for him. Sherlock had spoken so fast, it was almost faster than Merlin could think. Merlin was actually interested in hearing more, and Merlin thought that what Sherlock had done was so remarkable that there was only one explanation.

"Sherlock, you must have magic! That's the only way you could have known so much about me, although I've never seen anyone with that particular talent before," Merlin said. He thought it may have been a help, but Sherlock just rolled his eyes.

"I am highly observant and I use these observations to deduce things about my surroundings. There is nothing magic about it," Sherlock said.

At the same time, the Doctor said, "It may seem like magic, but it is really just a mental state, a gift, if you will, and it hasn't been diagnosed as such yet."

Merlin looked back and forth between the mysterious men as they stared at each other. Neither one was particularly used to being anything less than the smartest person in the room, and now here they were, with someone at least as smart as they, plus the boy who would become the most famous sorcerer that history had ever known, but was currently a bit of an idiot. They were certainly a dynamic group.

Merlin broke the tense silence. "Well…we're here."

All three of them looked up. None of them had paid any particular attention to where they were going, or at least no more attention than they paid to everything, and they stood before an immense cave.

"Oh! Right then, this way," the Doctor said, taking over. Merlin was glad to take a backseat, but Sherlock did not like the idea of someone else leading the way. However, he quickly analyzed the situation and decided that, out of all of them, the Timelord who had gotten him into this should be the first one to enter the cave and face the potential doom that lay within, especially since Merlin clearly had not fulfilled his role in history yet and Sherlock did not want all of reality crashing around his ears. So, in the span of maybe a second since the Doctor's announcement, Sherlock gestured the Doctor forwards.

Pointing the sonic screwdriver forward, the Doctor edged into the cavern, Sherlock close behind and Merlin lingering near the mouth of the cave. Merlin almost asked if he _really _had to come in, maybe he could just wait there, but as they got further away, he groaned and followed. He should have know that they weren't going to wait for him.

As they walked through the faintly lit cave, the passage narrowed suddenly and began to slope downwards. They all knew, somehow, to be quiet. Sneaking along the tunnel, screwdriver held aloft, the Doctor led the group into a huge, open area. The Doctor stopped short, and Merlin ran into him. "Sorry," Merlin breathed. As they had grown further away from the opening of the cave, the light had receded, and by now it was very dark. The Doctor put a hand up, and put one foot forward. Merlin and Sherlock held their breath.

Nothing happened. The Doctor looked confused, took another step, and looked around. "Well, everything is-"

_THUMP._

"What the hell was that?" Merlin shouted. He was very surprised.

The Doctor turned around to face the young warlock. "Oh, I'm sure it was nothing. Just the dragon coming towards us."

_THUMP._

"I thought you said it was an alien?" Merlin said. The cavern shook with the force of the thing's footsteps.

"It is, I was just saying dragon so it would make more sense to you!" the Doctor yelled. He was being drowned out by a roar, building in volume.

_THUMP._

"Now what?" Merlin shouted.

"I'm thinking we should-"

"Run." Sherlock's face was turning white. It was the first real emotion that the others had seen from him, and that scared them almost more than the impending doom.

"Yeah," the Doctor agreed.

"Running sounds pretty good right about now," Merlin said.

They took off towards the sunlight.

* * *

**I am sooooo very sorry for the huge delay, I've been busy with school and just like with my last update I am full of excuses that nobody really wants to hear. Also, I have had an epiphany. Nobody thinks you are as funny as you think you are. At least that is the case with me, since I went back and reread that last sentence and decided that nobody would think that was funny. It was supposed to be a sort of ironic joke. Sigh. I have also been very busy watching the newest season of Doctor Who, which has made it difficult for me to write for the 10th Doctor since I'm watching the 11th. Long explanation short (haha not really) this chapter has required a lot of editing and rewrites, more so than usual since I despise revisions, I really like the original thoughts, but if it is OOC then it needs to be changed. Which it often was. Also, it's a bit shorter than usual this time, and I apologise for that as well, hopefully more updates in the future, but don't expect too many, school's only going to get more time-consuming. **

**Anywho, as always please R&R, and forgive me for my late-night madness and sorry excuse of a clever Author's Note.**


	7. Chapter 7-The Magic Blue Box

They all ran hard through the trees, crashing through bushes, until all they could hear was the birds. As if by some unseen signal they all stopped and turned to each other. They were barely out of breath. In their respective lives they were all rather used to running.

"Doctor, what was that thing back there?" Merlin asked frantically. He had faced many magical monsters, but none such as this. "Tell me the truth. I am a Dragonlord, and I have never seen anything like that before!"

"Calm down, it's just a Borquex." The Doctor was looking around, expecting the creature to come bursting into them at any moment. He had only caught a glimpse of it, but it was lovely, a beautiful example of Borquex.

"A WHAT?!" Merlin could hardly be blamed for being a bit flustered. Sherlock rolled his eyes upon hearing this exchange.

"A Borquex, Merlin, weren't you listening?" Sherlock couldn't deal with this legend's stupidity any longer. For someone who was supposedly brilliant, Merlin really was rather bumbling and, well, dull.

Merlin took no notice of the insult. "Okay, it's a Bork...whatever it is. Doctor, what do we do?"

"I'm working on it." When Sherlock shot the Doctor a questioning look, he simply repeated, "I'm working on it!" a bit louder.

Merlin had started listening carefully, not quite using a spell but unconsciously reaching out with his hearing. He heard Sherlock muttering quietly, which obscured most of the other sounds of the forest. "Sherlock, do you think you could be a little quieter? I'm sorry to have to ask, but I can hear the thing coming. I know-"

"I didn't say anything." Sherlock was startled, to say the least. Usually (by this time even he had to concede that hardly anything was usual anymore) he was the one to tell people to stop thinking.

Merlin, on the other hand, was excited. "Sherlock, don't you see? Those were thoughts!" Despite the lack of response, Merlin was undeterred. "I can hear your thoughts! You must have magic like me!" At the continued silence from Sherlock and the increased pacing of the Doctor, Merlin faltered. "You don't know what I mean. I...I thought you'd know. It would be a part of you, deeply ingrained and now just a habit, something you do without noticing, like twisting a ring or taking off your cape." Merlin thought of Arthur, how he always took off his cloak before battle when he could.

Sherlock was thinking about his deducing people, which was now just a habit, like Merlin had said. Why not throw the boy a bone, Sherlock decided. "I notice things. I notice everything, and then I tell people what it means."

The Doctor had had the same thought, but he pushed it aside. He needed to work on the problem with the alien. Sherlock and Merlin were smart. Maybe they could help. Doubtful that they would understand...but worth a shot. He also could figure out Merlin's conundrum with the detective easily.

"Merlin, you and Sherlock here are both very intelligent. You have a form of telekinesis, manipulation of psychic fields, that sort of thing, and Sherlock sort of senses things that are different." The Doctor gestured towards Sherlock. "You call them details, I'll call them wrinkles. In the universe, by the way. See, he notices things about you and pulls them together impossibly fast! Because of his mental capacity, brain functionality, etcetera. Merlin, your brain is wired much the same way, only you can use the...psychic field around you, move it and change it to your bidding." The Doctor finally stopped for breath and ran his hand through his hair. "Do you understand?"

"Yes," Sherlock said definitively, at the exact same time Merlin said, "No," in a resigned sort of way.

The Doctor rubbed his hands together. "Well, nothing else to be done about that. Merlin, do you sense it?" Merlin shook his head. "Excellent! I have a plan. Well, sort of a plan. An idea. You two will have to help me."

"Help you with what?" Merlin asked.

The Doctor gave him a look. "Thinking of a plan." Obviously.

Sherlock had been thinking. As far as he knew the others weren't even there. That's why he was so silent. The Doctor was the only one whose voice could penetrate his thinking, something Sherlock found odd. Nobody could do that. His explanation of Merlin's magic was spot on, absolutely brilliant. He was almost ashamed that he hadn't come up with it. But the Doctor was special. Different. Obviously, he was an alien, of course, but his mind...if Merlin's brain ran on Sherlock's "frequency," let's say, then maybe the Doctor's did too. He knew so much and deduced the way Sherlock did, but he also had elements that couldn't be explained by looking at them, magic, like Merlin.

"Doctor," Sherlock said. "Your brain. I believe it is like ours."

The Doctor had been expecting something profound, like some ideas, but Sherlock being Sherlock had thoroughly rewritten the Doctor's expectations. Merlin, on the other hand, was very predictable. Which was odd, being a boy wizard genius and all. Maybe he was just a late bloomer.

"By the way," Merlin began. "Doctor who? And what is a doctor anyway?" He'd been meaning to ask, but a lot of things had gotten in the way since they had met.

"A doctor is like a physician. Doctors help people. Make them better," the Doctor explained. He rather liked people asking him that question. "Doctor who", that is.

"And that's what you do?" Merlin asked suspiciously, raising an eyebrow.

"Well yes! I'm trying to get this thing away from the castle and ruining everything! Isn't that helpful? Or do you want me to go and defeat the Dark Lord too, maybe with his right-hand man thrown in for good measure?" the Doctor exclaimed. "Oh, wait, he's fictional..." He glanced at Sherlock quickly, just a blink, before settling his gaze on Merlin again. Merlin's perplexed expression brought him up short. "Ah, well, Tom Riddle will have to wait. Now, any ideas?" He desperately tried to remain on topic, keeping focus on the task at hand. But he and his companions were very easily distracted.

Merlin didn't even notice that the Doctor had neglected the more important of the two questions he had asked. "Um...you know what it is, right? Does it have any flaws, anything that we could use?" Merlin was hopeful.

"Unfortunately not. These things are tough, thick armour all over them, no weak spots. Doesn't have ears, relies mostly on smell and hearing," the Doctor rattled off.

"I thought you said it didn't have ears," Merlin said.

"Of course not! It hears out of its eyes."

"That makes absolutely no sense."" Merlin shook his head. "You do realise that, don't you? I'm not crazy. This is crazy. Why doesn't this make any sense? Gaius has never told me anything about a creature like this, but I can get some of his books to see if there's a spell I can use..." This was finally Merlin's area. "I'll get my spell book. You wait here."

The Doctor said, "It's not safe, we'll have to be in the TARDIS."

"The what?"

"Oh for- Just follow me, I'll show you!" The Doctor stomped off. Sherlock, deep in his mind, didn't follow until Merlin dragged him along by the sleeve.

There it was, the blue box. Merlin was glad to be a little less confused about something, but..."All three of us fit in there? Is it magic?"

"Sort of..." The Doctor waved them in. "It's just-"

"Bigger on the inside." Merlin breathed. "This is amazing! I've never seen any sort of enchantment like this before!" He stopped in his revolving revelling and turned to the Doctor, eyes shining. "How did you do it?"

"Um, well, it's a box that can travel through time and space, and it's got two dimensions..."

"So that's why. I had assumed...hmm." Sherlock spoke for a moment, then retreated into himself again. He might need to go hide in the library or in one of the seemingly endless corridors. The Doctor kept interrupting his progress.

"We can go through time and space? We should go to...Ealdor first, I haven't seen my mother in so long...and then we should go to the future and see how much better Arthur can make Camelot." Merlin had never left his country, let alone be able to imagine planets far away with more aliens.

"Um...right, well we can't do that, not if you're alive in these times. Can't cross over your own timeline." Sherlock rolled his eyes and left rather noisily. The Doctor just shrugged and kept explaining to Merlin. "If you cross over your own timeline, you could change the past or the future and create a paradox. Just about everything that's happened to you, Merlin, is a fixed point in time. Even meeting Sherlock and I could change the future if you say anything about it."

"Who would I tell? Nobody would believe me, not even Gaius. He'd assume I'd been in the tavern and had a few too many pints. Which he would assume is also why I've been gone." Merlin startled. "I've been gone for almost a whole day! Arthur is going to kill me!"

"Watch this." The Doctor grinned, a madman's grin just barely concealed within sanity, and whirled around the TARDIS centre console. Everything started shaking. Merlin was knocked backwards and almost hit his head on a chair. He grabbed onto it and held on for dear life.

* * *

**Oh, dear readers, I am SO very terribly sorry and I don't even have a good reason for not uploading! This has been sitting on my iPod for AGES and I had no idea when it would be long enough. The ending isn't quite to my liking, but it will have to do. Fortunately I am (somewhat) less stuck writing-wise, so I shall hopefully be updating more, especially since school is almost over! Yaay for no more school! But taking a little break from this has allowed me to pursue other plot-bunnies that have been bounding around my head (MerlinPsych left plot-carrots on my porch...), which are almost ready to go up. ANYwho, enjoy, review, etc!**

**Virtual hugs and virtual cookies, **

**~soopergirl35 O('.')O**


	8. Chapter 8-Oh, Oh, Oh, Is It Magic?

The TARDIS whirred and rattled and shook to a stop. Merlin stood up and swayed a bit. "That was..." He swallowed hard. He didn't want to hurt the Doctor's feelings, so he kept his mouth shut.

The Doctor gestured out the door, and Merlin stepped through it uncertainly. It was a dense forest, full of odd looking, fluffy trees, jaggedy clouds and giant insects. Their permeative music drew even Sherlock out to gape at then in awe.

"Well done," the Doctor said.

"Who are you talking to?" Merlin asked.

"The TARDIS, of course! She took us here."

"She's...alive?" Merlin asked. In his head, he silently added, _Sorry, the travel was rough, that's the only reason I didn't like it! You're very impressive!_ to the TARDIS.

Sherlock rolled his eyes. Merlin thought that eventually Sherlock would get a headache from doing that so much.

The Doctor said, "Well? Do you believe me now?"

Merlin looked over at him. "I already believed you! And even if you say this is just science, it certainly seems to me like magic."

"Magic is just science-," the Doctor said.

Sherlock groaned, cutting him off. "And I do believe in fairies! I do, I do!" he said in a high, squeaky mimicry of a little girl. "Magic isn't real. There's just science. If a glowing rabbit can be explained, then so can all this."

"Sherlock, don't you see? I have explained! Sort of. It's a time machine that's alive. Time vortex stuff, Time Lord technology. It's science and the very magic of life working together," the Doctor said, trying to placate Sherlock.

Merlin shook his head, firm in his decision to just believe in magic. After all, even Gaius and his healing potions needed the help of magic when science failed, which it tended to when in dire situations.

"We should leave. The atmosphere of this planet is toxic in large doses," the Doctor said.

"Oh, now you tell us."

They piled back into the TARDIS. The Doctor pulled some levers and switches again, and Merlin made sure he was secure this time. Sherlock decided that it wasn't worth it to disappear into his head again, so he stayed with the others. Earlier he had wandered around trying to find the library, but the trouble was that it wasn't in the same place. He wound up in the swimming pool, which had brought back too many memories. He wound up sitting in the hall by the engine room, too nervous to keep searching but still annoyed enough to stay away from the others.

The TARDIS jolted and bounced, and then stopped. "Okay, we're here!" The Doctor opened the door and almost tumbled out into open, deep space. Sherlock was closest, and he jumped up and grabbed the back of the Doctor's jacket.

"Okay! So we're not there yet," the Doctor said. He noticed that Sherlock was looking up, and the Doctor glanced upwards too. Merlin ran to join them, and he finally voiced their surprise.

"Wow."

So it wasn't much, but he still said something. They were directly below a shimmering, rainbow coloured bridge. They thought they could hear people on it too.

"Nobody can survive out here. The only reason we're still breathing is because of the TARDIS shields..." the Doctor began. Someone or something yelled from up above them. Merlin, Sherlock, and the Doctor ducked back into the TARDIS. The Doctor sent the TARDIS into motion quickly, but there seemed to be some delay. The TARDIS shuddered, then jumped into flight.

As soon as they were all back in Camelot, Merlin stepped off of the TARDIS and weaved his way back to the castle. He was feeling a little woozy at first, almost like his magical receptors were being overloaded. Because it was clearly all magical. What else could it possibly be?

Sherlock sat in his room on the TARDIS, still quietly pondering. He, Merlin, and the Doctor were clearly on similar wavelengths. Maybe like a radio, they could hear each other set to FM when everyone else was on AM. Then there was the matter of the TARDIS. The fact that it was all explainable was a source of immense relief to Sherlock. Time Lord technology. At least it still was technology at work. The multi-dimensional concept was hard to grasp as well, but it was explainable. Sherlock reminded himself to ask the Doctor to show him the engine system. That kind of science would be amazing to know about. Because obviously was science. Couldn't be anything else.

The Doctor sighed as he looked at the softly glowing TARDIS console. But it was a happy sigh. He had found people who were interesting and who would travel with him for a little while. They had things to get back to, great destinies and all that. He had read books about both Sherlock and Merlin, and once something is written it cannot be changed. Besides, the Doctor knew his end was approaching. Knocking four times and all that. And Merlin's magic was so intriguing. _Magic is science that is simply not understood, after all,_ the Doctor thought.

Not one of them noticed the shadowy figure climbing off the top of the TARDIS and disappearing into the woods.

* * *

**Dun dun dun! The mysterious figure will be revealed...all in time, my lovelies, all in time. XD This will be the last bit from me for a little while, unless my new story chapter gets beta-read...just cos I already wrote it. But nothing else new because it's finals time again! NOOO! But happy reading. :)**


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